New revenue opportunities for SDS with the game

[tvsectog_PSN]

First, as I have said before, you '21 is a great game. It doesn't have everything I want, yet overall it is an absolute great game. You guys did a great job, and I look forward to future versions of the game.

As a customer, I have two options.

1. I can complain

2. I can give constructive criticism and try to work as a partner, letting you know what features I want so that you can put them into the game.

I am more of the #2 kind of person. I am a software and hardware engineer, inventor, cybersecurity professional and problem solver. I also manage software engineers and engineering projects. It's easy to break/hack/tear a product down mentioning all of it's flaws, yet that gets old, quickly. People don't like security professionals because they are always saying "this is wrong, that is wrong". What security people fail to realize that if software engineering is so easy....then why don't they try to build something instead of just saying 'x, y, z is broke'. No one likes to hear that their baby is ugly, and programs to software engineers are like their kids. I digress....

Look, you guys at SDS have made a great product in MLBS '21. You guys should be very product of the product you have made. Most users/players of the game don't understand the pressures of making sports video games every year. Definite kudos to you guys for year-after-year delivering a great sports game. In fact, I'll even say it....thanks for making the best sports game available of any sports game. Your content is second to none. Extremely well done, especially since your engineering team (and team overall) is likely very small. (I actually think you need more software engineers, DevSecOps personnel and just a larger team overall.). (SDS management ...increase your expenses and hire some additional people.)

Okay, now that I and done with the background information and kudos, I have some ideas for SDS about how to generate more revenue, year-round from the game, so the revenue steam is more consistent throughout the year, as opposed to a bigger revenue spike in certain quarters, and then less throughout the year.)

I believe you guys know this, yet if not .... you have multiple, different type of users/customers. You have younger people who have tons of time to grind, yet no real $$ to spend. You have slightly older young people who have some $$ to spend and still tons of time. Then you have the real competitive and content creator types (20 - 29) who have both time and money to spend, that really drive your younger players to grind out the players and programs. The competitive and content creator types write-off any stubs they buy as a business expense, which the younger players can't legally do.

Next you have the players that are just slightly older, who are starting families. They have some extra $$ to spend, yet no where near a ton of time to grind. These players are likely about 30 - 39 and just staring to have families. The game is a getaway for these players from the daily grind of life to let off some steam.

Then you have players who are over 40, who really have $$ to spend, yet not as much time to grind. We are also the group that pays for the game younger players to play the game. The younger crowd may want to play the game, yet we are ultimately your customers as it is our credit cards being used to buy the game and any stubs our younger kids want. And .... some of us older crowd ....actually play the game a well. However, the game really does a disservice to some of us in this age bracket. Most real baseball players don't play the game into their 40's ....as their reflexes aren't as fast as younger players. Thus, when you bump the speed up in RS ....us players in this age bracket get double-penalized. We pay to buy the game for our kids, and then the game is made harder for us to play. Thus, you have to ask...."If the game isn't fun for us, why would we want to buy it for our kids?", right? The issue is the speed differential bump in RS. Starting in our 40's, people start having more, natural vision issues. So, the speed jump while leveling up, really affects us. Just saying...and giving you guys something to think about.

In addition, us players in our 40's really just want to decompress after work. We might want to do some grinding, or play others online. Many of us want to play online, yet stand a chance. If we are already behind the 8-ball, we need better players and teams than the younger players to even the playing field. Therefore, some revenue ideas that can help solve these issues.

1. A monthly subscription of somewhere between $15 - $25 that gives a player below. This would be a yearly subscription, and the player would still have to buy the game every year. Total revenue would be $99 for the game, + $300/yr a year (12 * $25).

A player in this tier would get......

• Bugs fixed within 24 hours for any issues we report

• Priority consideration for new game features to get added to your development roadmap and the ability to prioritize features that get added to the next year's game via a survey or via a quarterly call ; Essentially, we get priority and a say about what gets added to the game in the next year

• A quarterly Zoom call (every 12 weeks) with the developers to give them our feedback

• The ability to get access to all 99 content cards year-round. We wouldn't have to re-grind the game every year, we could just build every year for new players currently in the league that are really good in a particular year. Until the 99 card for a player comes out in a particular year, the player in this tier would be able to use the 99 card from the previous year's game in the current year's game.

• Automatic, early access to the beta of the next year's game starting in November.

• Ability to buy additional stubs at a 40% discount anytime

• Ability to buy the game for our friends/other family members (for presents) at a 30% discount. (My kids and I want to play against our family and friends, not always random players from the Internet.)

• Access to an "Old Timers" RS and BR online competition. This would be a BR and RS online for mature players who want to play against other players our same age, with none of the bunt dancing, freeze-offs tactics that some of the younger players have more of a tendency to use. How to validate someone's age is a harder question. Maybe do a credit check or drivers license lookup? Maybe do some kind of quiz/test or writing exercise/explanation that the younger crowd won't want to do, yet that adults would be willing to do? Also, maybe don't include this in the base $15 - $25 package .... maybe make this a separate, $5 - 8 subscription.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that you can tier the services/access around the game to make more $$. You tier versions of the game, yet you can tier much more than you guys do and could thus make more $$, and give the players willing to pay more more of what we really want.

Coincidentally, one new market that I am not sure has been explored, yet would be a great market for MLB The Show. Baseball is a game that is different, and tests reflexes. It would seem that the game could be good for different types of medical rehab, where people have to regain some hand eye coordination. As the game is always different, it is the perfect tool to help some people regain some motor skills, and would sell more PlayStations and more MLB The Show software licenses. Also, this might be good for Senior Centers as well, as baseball tends to be a game watched by the older crowd that have more time. Seems like the game could really help seniors have some fun in their older years, give them a way to showoff some of their skills, and also tell their grandkids some stories of when they played baseball as a kid, thus also being therapeutic and helping them feel better by cementing bonds with their grandkids. For some seniors, MLB The Show could be the baseball game they go to ...when they can no longer make the trip to a real-life ballpark. And...it would be good for the younger generations as well as they could be seen as helping their grandparents, and also learning from their grandparents about how to play the game. Seems like MLB would also like this as well, and MLBTS could be used as a bridge to help grow the game?

Anyway, in conclusion, some ideas to generate more revenue for SDS. You guys made a great game, yet you aren't making as much $$ as you could. I'm willing to pay more to enjoy the game and also get prioritized services from you guys (such as bugs resolved within 48-hours, prioritized feedback for features in next year's game, etc.). Being able to give you guys prioritized feedback about the game gives me more skin in the game. I'm no longer just a customer, yet a customer that has more impact on the product that you guys are delivering. Also, the ideas above are just starting points to further the discussion. The tier structures are not 100% complete or correct, yet just their to get the creative juices flowing. I'll leave the hard work of implementing them in the good hands of ....Ramone.....and Coach.

[GixxerRyder750_PSN]

Is this an essential Oils pitch?